A LOAN shark has been jailed for more than three years after making in excess of £780,000 by targeting people desperate for money.

Scott Linegar, a father of three of Grovelands, West Molesey, threatened friends and family of those who owed him money when payments were late, Southwark Crown Court heard.

His crimes led the judge in the case to call for Parliament to allow longer sentences for those guilty of loan sharking.

The court heard that the 30-year-old told one customer he would “put him in a wheelchair for life” if he did not receive his cash by the end of the day, and warned another he was going to “start hurting his mates”.

He was said to have charged interest of up to 100% a day and owned two houses and an expensive Mercedes car, while disguising his profits by running a tanning salon in Tadworth.

Stuart Sampson, prosecuting, said Linegar was only caught when he was involved in a road accident in 2005, and bags containing huge quantities of cash were found in the boot of the car.

The prosecutor added that police officers also found boxes containing scraps of paper recording telephone numbers and payment amounts, as well as mobile phones.

He explained the phones had been used to send text messages to clients who had failed to pay up on time, one containing a racist insult and a threat to “hurt you so bad”.

Mr Sampson said police found a drawer stuffed with £3,300 in bank notes at one of Linegar’s homes, where he lived a life of luxury with his 32-year-old girlfriend Kelly Lawton.

The court heard that after his arrest Linegar admitted acting as a loan shark, also telling police he had £780,000 stashed away.

He and his partner then fled to Spain with their children, where they were not caught until June of this year.

Linegar admitted two counts of converting criminal property, three counts of possession of criminal property and one of engaging in the provision of unlicensed personal credit agreements.

Judge Michael Gledhill sentenced him on Wednesday (November 19) to 15 months for the latter offence and two years to run consecutively for the others.

The judge said: “Parliament has decided that the maximum sentence for the offence of loan sharking is two years, and I have come to the conclusion, particularly in the economic climate we now have, that Parliament might well be right to look again at this.”

Lawton, also of Grovelands, West Molesey, was ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service and pay £250 towards defence costs after admitting possessing criminal property.

Another man, Zachary Crockett, of Queens Road, Caversham, Berkshire, was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for a year, and will carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to money laundering.